Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that the UN-hosted negotiations on the Syrian conflict planned for February 8 in Geneva have been postponed until the end of that month.

“The date of February 8 has been put back until the end of next month,” Lavrov told a meeting with minor Syrian opposition representatives in Moscow to discuss peace talks in Kazakhstan that ended on Tuesday without a major breakthrough.

There was no confirmation from the United Nations on the latest plans for the next round of talks between the Syrian government and the foreign-backed opposition.

The main armed opposition groups stayed away from the Moscow meeting with Lavrov.

Representatives from armed opposition groups and Damascus were expected to hold their first face-to-face talks in Astana, but the armed opposition refused.

Key players Russia, Turkey and Iran backed the talks and the main result was an agreement by the three sides to try to shore up a shaky ceasefire on the ground in the war-torn country.

Source: Agencies